Friday, February 23, 2007

Jargon Busting!

Ah, Jargon! Love it or hate it, there is a lot of it. Some is really important to know. For example, bits and pieces of information that relate to "trimming", that is, getting the best performance out of your model. Other terminology is more esoteric, and arguably, not necessary for you to enjoy the sport of Free Flight (and it is officially a "sport" in the UK). I'm not proposing to explain all of the jargon. Instead, I'll list a whole raft of it now. Later, I'll explain some of the important terms, or at least give you a link to more information. So, in no particular order, here's a list:
  1. Lift
  2. Drag
  3. Best L/D
  4. Min Sink
  5. Polar
  6. Centre of Gravity
  7. Centre of Pressure and Aerodynamic Centre
  8. Angle of Attack
  9. Angle of Incidence
  10. Dihedral
  11. Decalage (sometimes called Longitudinal Dihedral) - great diagram here
  12. Moment Balance
  13. Stab Up, Stab Down
  14. Stab Tilt
  15. Stab Twist
  16. Stall
  17. Sideslip
  18. Dutch Roll
  19. Wash Out
  20. Wash In
  21. Tip Weight
  22. Wing Offset
  23. Wing Planform
  24. Aspect Ratio
  25. Wing Area
  26. Wing Loading
  27. Chord and Mean Aerodynamic Chord (MAC)
  28. Aerofoil section
  29. Camber
  30. Thickness
  31. Winglet
  32. Dethermaliser, or DT, or Dethermalizer
  33. Span Loading (two flavours)

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Watch out for "those that prowl in them thar Parks!"


Because, this is what can happen to your model aeroplane!

Monday, February 19, 2007

Cloud Tramp


My Cloud Tramp. This 22" span classic is one of the rubber models that I would recommend for a beginner (see previous blogs). It is fairly easy to build. Powered by six strands of 3/32" rubber (three loops), it climbs beautifully especially in lift. This gives a motor run of about 50 s. Best flight so far is around 90 s. It's OK under power, but the glide is not as flat as a decent hand launched glider.

And here is a photo earlier in the build of the fuselage, undercarriage legs and stabiliser:

Google